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Movie Metropolis (309 KP) rated Non-Stop (2014) in Movies
Jun 11, 2019
On the wrong side of 60 you’d be forgiven for thinking that it was time for Liam Neeson to hang up his gun and move away from the cold, steely world of action films, into the fuzzy and sentimental territory of a rom-com.
Thankfully he and director Jaume Collet-Serra, who Neeson previously worked with on the disappointing thriller Unknown, have decided to continue with the action thriller theme in Taken on a Plane, sorry… Non-Stop.
Neeson plays troubled US air marshal Bill Marks as he begins a non-stop flight from New York to London, though from the outset it is obvious this will be no ordinary journey.
Marks is a man with a chequered past. From suffering with depression after the breakdown of his marriage to his subsequent alcoholism, everything seems to be utterly gloomy.
Soon after take off, Neeson’s character is sent numerous anonymous texts stating that a person on board will be killed every 20 minutes unless $150 million is transferred into a bank account.
Cue Neeson’s trademark gruff tone as he shouts about the cabin trying to discover just hr_Non-Stop_6who is behind the messages. It’s fair to say things aren’t as simple as that and Collet-Serra’s spirited direction keeps things moving with more twists than a curly-wurly.
Julianne Moore stars as Marks’s ‘seat neighbour’ and is as usual excellent but unusually bland, portraying a character that numerous other actresses could’ve fitted into quite easily – it’s a strange departure from Moore’s more deep characterisations, but she does it well despite the lack of material she’s given to work with.
The plot is well driven by the excellent cinematography, using the confined spaces of an aircraft to great effect with sweeping shots of the cabin over the heads of passengers and the use of aeroplane windows to move in and out of the fuselage.
Technology plays a huge part in Non-Stop, the constant stream of text messages that Neeson receives could have made the film fall flat, but thankfully each one is put up on the screen allowing the audience to read them in real time, rather than stopping the story dead and allowing boredom to set in.
Whilst the story and plot are first-rate, the special effects unfortunately are not such a blast. Whilst the majority of them are passable given the film’s relatively small budget of $50 million, the shots of the aircraft towards the finale are underwhelming and look like they belong in a video game, not a Hollywood blockbuster. It’s an unfortunate lapse in an otherwise very competent film.
Thankfully Neeson’s now applauded acting technique distracts from these moments enough to steer Non-Stop to a pulse-racing and very satisfying conclusion.
Overall, Non-Stop is good fun from start to finish and barely slows within its succinct running time. However, it all feels very familiar and this is a problem for its main star too. For all of Neeson’s fans this is another good notch on their bedposts – but I doubt it will bring any newcomers to his admittedly large following, meaning he runs of the risk of being typecast.
Nevertheless, apart from a few lapses in special effects and a rather bland Julianne Moore, Non-Stop is definitely worth a watch – even if there may be a sense of deja vu.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2014/03/01/non-stop-review/
Thankfully he and director Jaume Collet-Serra, who Neeson previously worked with on the disappointing thriller Unknown, have decided to continue with the action thriller theme in Taken on a Plane, sorry… Non-Stop.
Neeson plays troubled US air marshal Bill Marks as he begins a non-stop flight from New York to London, though from the outset it is obvious this will be no ordinary journey.
Marks is a man with a chequered past. From suffering with depression after the breakdown of his marriage to his subsequent alcoholism, everything seems to be utterly gloomy.
Soon after take off, Neeson’s character is sent numerous anonymous texts stating that a person on board will be killed every 20 minutes unless $150 million is transferred into a bank account.
Cue Neeson’s trademark gruff tone as he shouts about the cabin trying to discover just hr_Non-Stop_6who is behind the messages. It’s fair to say things aren’t as simple as that and Collet-Serra’s spirited direction keeps things moving with more twists than a curly-wurly.
Julianne Moore stars as Marks’s ‘seat neighbour’ and is as usual excellent but unusually bland, portraying a character that numerous other actresses could’ve fitted into quite easily – it’s a strange departure from Moore’s more deep characterisations, but she does it well despite the lack of material she’s given to work with.
The plot is well driven by the excellent cinematography, using the confined spaces of an aircraft to great effect with sweeping shots of the cabin over the heads of passengers and the use of aeroplane windows to move in and out of the fuselage.
Technology plays a huge part in Non-Stop, the constant stream of text messages that Neeson receives could have made the film fall flat, but thankfully each one is put up on the screen allowing the audience to read them in real time, rather than stopping the story dead and allowing boredom to set in.
Whilst the story and plot are first-rate, the special effects unfortunately are not such a blast. Whilst the majority of them are passable given the film’s relatively small budget of $50 million, the shots of the aircraft towards the finale are underwhelming and look like they belong in a video game, not a Hollywood blockbuster. It’s an unfortunate lapse in an otherwise very competent film.
Thankfully Neeson’s now applauded acting technique distracts from these moments enough to steer Non-Stop to a pulse-racing and very satisfying conclusion.
Overall, Non-Stop is good fun from start to finish and barely slows within its succinct running time. However, it all feels very familiar and this is a problem for its main star too. For all of Neeson’s fans this is another good notch on their bedposts – but I doubt it will bring any newcomers to his admittedly large following, meaning he runs of the risk of being typecast.
Nevertheless, apart from a few lapses in special effects and a rather bland Julianne Moore, Non-Stop is definitely worth a watch – even if there may be a sense of deja vu.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2014/03/01/non-stop-review/
Louise (64 KP) rated Sunflowers in February in Books
Jun 28, 2018
First and foremost thank you to readers first for supplying me a copy of this book, it truly looks better in the flesh.
This is a UK YA debut novel by Phyllida Shrimpton and very reminiscent of the lovely bones by Alice Sebold. When I read the synopsis of this book I knew that I was going to have to read it. The exploration of life after death fascinates me, are there spirits? is there really life after death? This book had depth to it and has some very important messages, it covers a lot on grief and guilt.
Our story starts out pretty much as the synopsis states…Lily is 15 years old and is on a bank of grass and has no idea how she got there. The first thing she notices is her purple converse laying in a puddle, her mum is going to be so mad that she has ruined them especially as she begged and pleaded with her for them. Thankfully the Police turn up just in time, hopefully they will be able to take her home, It’s only when they ignore her that she starts becoming alarmed, she can’t seem to touch them or communicate with them. One of the policemen radio in that they have found her, but it can’t be her as they keep ignoring her, when she looks in the same direction as the Police she sees herself lying in a ditch DEAD! For some reason Lily is still around in spirit, she stands next to her mother and father when they identify her body, she even attends her funeral. Being a spirit is pretty lonely, watching everyone grieving for her not being able to console them but worst of all is being emotionally numb, it’s only one evening when her twin brother has an out-of-body experience in the night that she finds she can actually communicate to the outside world. She wants one chance to say goodbye to everyone properly and then maybe she will finally rest in peace.
This was a very ambitious concept to try to pull off for a debut novel and I think she might have just done it. There were some aspects of this book that I was sceptical of, but other than that it was an enjoyable read. I liked how much grief was tackled and the ways in which people cope.The way she was drawn to people when they were thinking about her was a nice touch which meant we got to see several characters which broke any monotony up. This did delve in the stages of grief. We had Denial, anger,guilt,depression and acceptance and you could see each of these stages in the characters throughout the book. I also liked the message of not taking things for granted because you never know when your life might end and you wish you could have done things differently. Lily could see her family falling apart and her mission was to stop that from happening – they needed to be together and move on with their lives but she also need to learn to forgive so she too could move on.
Overall I enjoyed this book it had a lot of important messages and dealt with a delicate subject pretty well. I would say this is the YA of ‘The Lovely Bones’.
This is a UK YA debut novel by Phyllida Shrimpton and very reminiscent of the lovely bones by Alice Sebold. When I read the synopsis of this book I knew that I was going to have to read it. The exploration of life after death fascinates me, are there spirits? is there really life after death? This book had depth to it and has some very important messages, it covers a lot on grief and guilt.
Our story starts out pretty much as the synopsis states…Lily is 15 years old and is on a bank of grass and has no idea how she got there. The first thing she notices is her purple converse laying in a puddle, her mum is going to be so mad that she has ruined them especially as she begged and pleaded with her for them. Thankfully the Police turn up just in time, hopefully they will be able to take her home, It’s only when they ignore her that she starts becoming alarmed, she can’t seem to touch them or communicate with them. One of the policemen radio in that they have found her, but it can’t be her as they keep ignoring her, when she looks in the same direction as the Police she sees herself lying in a ditch DEAD! For some reason Lily is still around in spirit, she stands next to her mother and father when they identify her body, she even attends her funeral. Being a spirit is pretty lonely, watching everyone grieving for her not being able to console them but worst of all is being emotionally numb, it’s only one evening when her twin brother has an out-of-body experience in the night that she finds she can actually communicate to the outside world. She wants one chance to say goodbye to everyone properly and then maybe she will finally rest in peace.
This was a very ambitious concept to try to pull off for a debut novel and I think she might have just done it. There were some aspects of this book that I was sceptical of, but other than that it was an enjoyable read. I liked how much grief was tackled and the ways in which people cope.The way she was drawn to people when they were thinking about her was a nice touch which meant we got to see several characters which broke any monotony up. This did delve in the stages of grief. We had Denial, anger,guilt,depression and acceptance and you could see each of these stages in the characters throughout the book. I also liked the message of not taking things for granted because you never know when your life might end and you wish you could have done things differently. Lily could see her family falling apart and her mission was to stop that from happening – they needed to be together and move on with their lives but she also need to learn to forgive so she too could move on.
Overall I enjoyed this book it had a lot of important messages and dealt with a delicate subject pretty well. I would say this is the YA of ‘The Lovely Bones’.
Ross (3284 KP) rated Dark Forge (Masters & Mages #2) in Books
Jan 30, 2019
Another slog of a book but with a good overall plot
*** I received a free advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ***
Dark Forge follows on from Cold Iron and sees the hero, Aranthur, travelling through the desert-lands battling against "The Pure", a group of magikal fundamentalists that believe access to the world's magik should be restricted to those of noble birth.
As a rare treat, the book starts with a lengthy prologue telling of a group of mercenaries working for the Pure attempting to storm an ancient site and gain ownership of a magical artefact. A few dozen pages break from Aranthur was welcome and this was an exciting part of the story. As with the first book, the narrative style is something of a barrier to me, all the mundane details of clothing, horses, weapons are expounded ad nauseum, but when something important happens, or some new magik is used suddenly it's all very vague and hand-wavey.
That brings us back to Aranthur. We pick up with him and his crew acting as messengers for the General's army, relaying messages back and forth across the divisions of the forces. At times this changes to acting as advance scouts, other times running messages through the middle of battles. Given the rest of the story is told from Aranthur's PoV alone, this means we can see a great deal of the action through his eyes.
At long last we are treated to something of an inventory from Aranthur, as he goes over the magik he currently knows and their purpose. This felt like a brilliant improvement over book 1, where he just did a magik thing somehow. However this is short lived as over the course of the book odd words are used, with little explanation (and always in italics, suggesting they are important words but for the life of me I couldn't remember what most of them were).
A major failing for this book for me was that despite all being from one character's PoV, and we hear plenty of his thoughts and feelings, we are not privy to his experimentation with magik or some of his suspicions and theories (he suddenly in the heat of battle tries something he had been thinking about and it works - would have been so much more effective if there had been any hint of this previously). Similarly, so much of it is all metaphysical nonsense which I can't stand and can only see it as a cheap way out for an author as you don't have to explain things if they're all mystical.
The book reads like maybe the 5th in a series, where all the magical aspects and parts and peoples of the world have been solidly embedded, rather than book 2 where the world-building is being done almost real-time and there is something of a making-it-up-as-he-goes-along feel.
The overarching plot of the book is solid, and while I would have liked to see more traditional combat like the first book, and less magical/mystical stuff the action was plentiful and reasonably well told.
As with the first book, its only about 400 pages but felt like so much more to me, and it really was a bit of a slog at times.
I will finish this series with the conclusion when it is released but have enjoyed other series a lot more.
Dark Forge follows on from Cold Iron and sees the hero, Aranthur, travelling through the desert-lands battling against "The Pure", a group of magikal fundamentalists that believe access to the world's magik should be restricted to those of noble birth.
As a rare treat, the book starts with a lengthy prologue telling of a group of mercenaries working for the Pure attempting to storm an ancient site and gain ownership of a magical artefact. A few dozen pages break from Aranthur was welcome and this was an exciting part of the story. As with the first book, the narrative style is something of a barrier to me, all the mundane details of clothing, horses, weapons are expounded ad nauseum, but when something important happens, or some new magik is used suddenly it's all very vague and hand-wavey.
That brings us back to Aranthur. We pick up with him and his crew acting as messengers for the General's army, relaying messages back and forth across the divisions of the forces. At times this changes to acting as advance scouts, other times running messages through the middle of battles. Given the rest of the story is told from Aranthur's PoV alone, this means we can see a great deal of the action through his eyes.
At long last we are treated to something of an inventory from Aranthur, as he goes over the magik he currently knows and their purpose. This felt like a brilliant improvement over book 1, where he just did a magik thing somehow. However this is short lived as over the course of the book odd words are used, with little explanation (and always in italics, suggesting they are important words but for the life of me I couldn't remember what most of them were).
A major failing for this book for me was that despite all being from one character's PoV, and we hear plenty of his thoughts and feelings, we are not privy to his experimentation with magik or some of his suspicions and theories (he suddenly in the heat of battle tries something he had been thinking about and it works - would have been so much more effective if there had been any hint of this previously). Similarly, so much of it is all metaphysical nonsense which I can't stand and can only see it as a cheap way out for an author as you don't have to explain things if they're all mystical.
The book reads like maybe the 5th in a series, where all the magical aspects and parts and peoples of the world have been solidly embedded, rather than book 2 where the world-building is being done almost real-time and there is something of a making-it-up-as-he-goes-along feel.
The overarching plot of the book is solid, and while I would have liked to see more traditional combat like the first book, and less magical/mystical stuff the action was plentiful and reasonably well told.
As with the first book, its only about 400 pages but felt like so much more to me, and it really was a bit of a slog at times.
I will finish this series with the conclusion when it is released but have enjoyed other series a lot more.
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